Alonso stands by McLaren move

Fernando Alonso again dismissed gossip that he is having second thoughts about his move from Renault to McLaren in 2007 as the sport's so-called "silly season" moved into top gear here yesterday in the run-up to Sunday's German grand prix.

The Spanish driver, who is reigning champion, leads the individual standings by 17 points as he aims to retain the constructors' title too for Renault but he is unruffled by McLaren's poor form.

He said that competing against Michael Schumacher's Ferrari is easier than battling Kimi Raikkonen's McLaren in 2005 was. "I think last year was more tough than this year but the final result may be tighter than last year," he said. "For the last seven races of last year I had [to race against] the McLaren, which was around half a second quicker than us at every grand prix and it was impossible to beat them."

Alonso was told by Pedro de la Rosa that he should have no worries about sticking to his agreed plans. De la Rosa will be driving his second race of the season for McLaren this weekend as a replacement for Juan Pablo Montoya. "I always think that in formula one, as a race driver, there are basically two teams that are consistently quick over the 10 years," said De la Rosa, who clearly hopes to be considered as a candidate for the second seat in 2007.

"McLaren Mercedes are definitely the team to drive for long-term, always. For two races we've had bad results, but come on. You have to look more at the future. Fernando is an intelligent driver."

De la Rosa's personal ambitions of joining McLaren as a regular race driver will be assessed in the light of opposition from the young Britons Lewis Hamilton and Gary Paffett. It has been suggested that there might be commercial limitations involved in having two Spanish drivers in the same team.

Meanwhile Raikkonen continued to fuel the mood of uncertainty surrounding his future plans by denying he has decided what he will do in 2007 despite continuing speculation that he has signed a binding contract with Ferrari.